Propelled by tailwind, the race had the fastest average speed (43.31 km/h) since Paris–Roubaix was moved to the more difficult easterly route in 1968.

Four Mapei riders – Italians Franco Ballerini, Gianluca Bortolami, Andrea Tafi and Belgian Johan Museeuw – broke clear at 86 km from the finish.

Ballerini, the winner of the previous edition, punctured shortly after; his team mates subsequently powering on to Roubaix.

Museeuw won the race on the velodrome in Roubaix, without sprinting, before Bortolami and Tafi who completed the all-Mapei podium.

With the break 15 km from the finish, Mapei’s managing director, Giorgio Squinzi, called Patrick Lefevere, the team’s directeur sportif, from the company headquarters in Milan.